Hi there. Hello, it's me Jimmy. Yes I am still alive.
As the years have gone by
I still feel terribly homesick for Tokyo. Even more so that a fellow teacher
friend has applied for, and is getting back in the saddle for another stint of
teaching in Japan after returning home for many years and missing Japan just like me.
Anyhoo
what I am writing about is that I want to share a post about buying from Japan
using a proxy.
Where I can I try to buy directly myself. (Yes I did buy another
guitar). You can check out the unboxing here. In that case I dealt directly with
Ikebe Gakki and it arrived without fuss.
In the past I have used Zenmarket with
Yahoo Auctions to buy Fuji packfilm (that sadly all turned out dried out and a
complete waste of money).
You'll find that there are many of the same item
pictures on eBay from different Japanese sellers. What these guys are doing is
acting as a middle man and collecting a sizable chunk of yen off of something
they don't even own! If I do a reverse image search I can usually find the
original true seller.
This time I was after a Super Mario Rubik's Cube from Mercari
(It's kind of a Gumtree/Craigslist Japanese selling portal). Lately I have been
incredibly addicted to Rubik's Cubes. It's just another addiction that takes my
mind off my everyday mundane life.
This time I went through an excellent
Japanese proxy service called Teresa's Toy Store.
Why did I choose to go this
way? Well she just took a 20% commission. I didn't have to sign up to any
website (which is great, very informative). I also don't lose another 10%
robbery to the Australian government, and I get to pay with Wise, which is an
awesome payment portal alternative to Paypal.
If you haven't heard of Wise
(formerly called TransferWise) you need to switch ASAP. From your local bank
account you can practically shoot through funds instantly to an overseas account
and the rates are MUCH MUCH better than Paypal, or your bank.
Another benefit is
Teresa let me have it shipped "Small Packets" registered airmail which although
not tracked, requires a signed delivery. Roughly a third of the cost compared to
EMS. I ordered 26th of June and my package arrived today the 9th of July which is
fantastic.
Communication with Teresa was faultless, and every step of the way
was stress free. When I lived in Tokyo I only ever sold one of my guitars back
to Australia. If I was smarter I should have started my own proxy buying
business! Anyway, if you're reading this ありがとう Teresa! I will be keeping you in mind when I have
something else to buy from Japan and yes, I have already solved the Mario cube
:)
